The restaurant was busy today and despite doing her best to live up to the lazy irresponsible teen stereotype, Anne loved these days.
Big crowds meant tips and tips meant she could continue to save up for those new Yellow shoes she wanted.
Anne was just coming back after serving a family of three. (A grandfather and two grandchildren) and was about to take another order, When her mother opened the kitchen door.
"Anne Sweetie could you come to the kitchen, please? It's very important."
Anne followed her mother into the kitchen.
The kitchen was spotless as usual her mother had always said that cooking was one part food preparation two parts making sure the kitchen was clean. Her mother was sitting on a chair in the middle of the room, looking at Anne with a look she was all too familiar with.
"Anne, I have bad news, You're fired."
Anne looked at her mother like she admitted that Thai love songs were kind of dull, What had she done? she loved working here, the money was good but it was also a time she got to bond with her parents, it's where they taught her to cook.
"Mom, You can't fire me. I'm your daughter."
Her mother shook her head, "No Anne, You're not. See to work here you need to be a Boonchuy and well you've decided that you don't want to be one anymore, So goodbye. Don't worry about your things we'll burn them."
Anne stood back "Mom it's just my last name, It's only for a while, I'm still your daughter."
Her mother shook her head again.
"Oh Anne, You don't know." the elder Boonchuy woman handed her daughter a mirror.
Anne looked in the mirror. Looking back at her was a Blue frog. She had no idea how it had gotten in the mirror, but then she noticed the frog's hair. It was hers, curly and full of leaves and twigs. She dropped the mirror which shattered into a million pieces.
"You're not even human," said her mother her voice growing deeper.
"Mom, No I'm your daughter please I didn't mean to..."
"Sorry Anne," her mother said putting her hand on a cord that appeared out of nowhere. "But you've decided that It's better to not be my daughter."
She pulled the cord and Anne fell down a trapdoor in the floor falling for what felt like hours. Eventually, she landed flat on her back she took notice of her surroundings. She was outside the Plantar farm Maybe she could hide there, after all, she was a frog now. They'd have to help her. as she ran however she noticed how dead the land looked like something had stripped mined it, she saw what appeared to be a flying building in the sky, she needed to get to safety
Anne ran to the door and started Hammering on it "Sprig, Polly, Hop Pop Please let me in."
The door opened and there stood Hop Pop. His eyes were hollow "Why would we want to let you in," he said taunting her.
Polly rolled up next to him, her eyes also hollow "You betrayed us, I hate you."
The last one to come shambling up to the door was undead Sprig, "Why would anyone ever want to be friends with a beast like you."
Anne looked at these twisted versions of the Plantars. And was faced with the horrible revelation that they were right. Why would anyone love her after all she had done.
She turned and ran away, She just needed to get away from this place, from everywhere, she ran to the gate but before she reached it the ground opened up and swallowed her whole. she fell screaming.
She came to in a dark room a bright light shining in her eyes.
"Ladies and Gentlefrogs," Said a voice dripping in sadistic glee. "What we have here is a strange case. A creature that thinks it's both Human and Frog"
She tried to move, but she couldn't something was holding her back.
"Today, we shall prove once and for all whether this beast is Human or frog."
She finally saw the speaker. It was Scumdrop, and he was smiling and brandishing a scalpel, it was drawing nearer and nearer to her skin.
She wanted to scream but found she couldn't. She tried and tried to open her mouth but it just wouldn't.
Just as the scalpel touched her skin, she finally did.
…
Anne was sat up in her bed.
It had been a nightmare.
She looked down at herself. She was still here
That's when she remembered the previous day. it was just a terrible dream. But real life wasn't any better.
In her desperate attempt to fit in she had hurt her friends. The Three frogs were risking a lot to make sure she had somewhere to sleep safely, she had hurt them in a stupid attempt to save fit in.
She had stayed in the basement for the rest of that day, The Plantars hadn't bothered her.
The Plantars being far better than she deserved, Hop Pop had visited her asking if she was okay, he left after a few minutes, Sprig had spent the rest of the evening before bedtime pleading for her to come out.
She couldn't stay here anymore. She'd talk to the Plantars tomorrow, apologize and then go, she could go back to the forest, she'd stay there from now on.
Her stomach rumbled, she sighed, she had decided to not join in with dinner, but right now she needed to get something to eat.
…
Anne was currently eating some buttered bread, she wasn't a Plantar anymore so she didn't need to bother with bugs anymore. She was wondering when she'd start eating bugs to survive when heard the sound of gentle thudding coming towards her.
She turned to see Polly carrying a small bindle hopping towards the door,
"Uh, Polly what are you doing up?." Anne asked concerned about the nocturnal activities the small Pollywog was going through.
The Small Polliwog stopped Hopping toward the door and turned to Anne.
"I'm leaving, I'm not staying here."
Anne looked at the Polliwog and noticed the determination in her eye. "Why?"
"Because being a Plantar is awful. The town thinks we're jokes and being one turned you into a jerk,"
Polly continued to hop along. It was a comical sightseeing a small living ball hopping towards the door, barely being able to hold onto a stick. She wondered how far the young Polliwog could get before something stopped her.
As it turns out just outside the front door, Polly was trying to jump up and unlock the door but it was hard to do that while holding on to the Bindle around the size of the polliwog. The pathetic display Anne saw briefly knocked her out of her own depressed mindset.
Anne sighed, She could at least try to help Polly, Not to run away but maybe she could get her to change her mind.
Anne strolled over and picked Polly up "Hey what are you doing," Said the irate Polliwog trying to squirm her way out of Anne's grip.
"Relax Polly, I'm going to help you at least get to the outskirts of town."
"What Really?" said the Pollywog her eyes full of suspicion.
"Really."
Polly looked at the tall human girl and then crossed her arms and looked away "Well, Good, You should, It's the least you can do for being a snitch."
Anne sighed And opened the door picking up the bindle then walking out the door.
She didn't notice the curtains on the second floor of the house shuffle as exited through the gate.
…
Anne felt weirdly safe walking through Wartwood at night. It felt weirdly empowering. Being out in the dark at night, it was quiet, far more peaceful, no one looked at the beast holding a small pink blob kind of ruined the image but still.
She looked at Polly again, she was going to attempt to convince Polly to stay, "So, you sure you want to run away?"
Polly looked away from her "Yes, I don't want to be a Plantar anymore."
"Really. Why not?"
"Because I've been living a lie, all this time thinking being a Plantar was great, But no, everything the family bush said was wrong. Sprig and Hop Pop are considered jokes, and that means I'm going to be a joke too if I stay a Plantar."
"I wouldn't say that," said Anne.
"Oh Yeah, what about you, you're now a Plantar and you turned into a secret-telling jerk."
Anne sighed "Yeah. It kind of did."
"So that's why I'm cutting ties with that name, I'll become a no-named traveler. Going from place to place fighting monsters and taking down bandits."
"Really? You don't suppose that Hop Pop and Sprig aren't going to try to bring you back?"
Polly rolled her eyes "Well Duh, That's why I have a new name chosen."
"Oh, What is it then?"
"Simple, Molly."
Anne stopped and lifted the Polliwog to her eye level.
"Molly?"
"Yep," Said Polly feeling satisfied at her clever lie.
Anne looked at her for a few more seconds. Then nodded "Okay, That'll probably work."
"Yeah, I know." Said Polly feeling pretty proud of her lie.
"They will never think Molly Plantar is Polly Plantar." said Anne sarcastically.
"No especially when they hear my second name," said "Molly" defensively
"Oh What's that?" said Anne intrigued
"Boonchuy"
Anne stopped walking "Really, That name?" she said hesitantly.
"Yeah, When you were a Boonchuy you were awesome, I don't know what It means. But It was your name, before you..."
"Polly," said Anne interrupting her, "Maybe you should choose a better name."
"What do you mean, Anne Boonchuy was awesome. She was one of the coolest people I know. Someone who looked after me and Sprig. Someone who fought alongside Hop Pop, She got us into adventures..." Polly was quiet for a second. "She taught me that there was nothing to be ashamed about being me," she said quietly.
Anne looked at the little Polliwog.
Was she right No. Anne Boonchuy had been a loser she had been a freak. She had...
That's when Anne started to remember.
…
Her mommy had stopped asking her to open the door a while ago.
It was quite late Mom was probably in her room sleeping, Dad was probably still watching TV. She could probably sneak to the kitchen and get some cookies.
Anne loved her mommy, but she always sounded different to the other mommy's A few of the older boys said Mommy sounded stupid, and then they said that Anne's was probably stupid to. When her mother picked her up she said she hated her and when they got home Anne ran to her room. She had missed dinner, Both her parents had been standing outside asking for her to come out, But she didn't they would just be angry at her.
She opened the door. Hoping to sneak out
Her mom was sitting outside. patiently waiting for her.
"Anne come with me," she said.
Anne followed her mommy into her and daddy's room, worried about how much yelling she would endure, she was surprised when she didn't, Instead, she just walked to the closet and pulled out a small box. Her mother asked her to sit down with her and opened the box.
Inside the box was a gold necklace one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen. There were designs that she had never seen before. She never knew her mother had this thing.
"Mommy... Are you a princess?"
Her mother laughed, "No Anne, This was a gift from my mother. She gave it to me when I and your father left Bangkok to study. My English wasn't good back then and I had the same issues with people like those boys in the park. However, I realized that there were more people who liked me for me."
She lifted the necklace out of the box. "Do you want to hold it?"
Anne reached over She was never allowed to touch her mom's jewelry "Gently Anne this has been in our family one hundred and fifty years now" Anne gasped, that was higher than she could count even Marcy could count that high.
She picked the necklace up as carefully as any five-year-old could.
"Anne," her mother continued "There are always going to be people that hate you because of the way you look sound, and where you come from, but there are more people who don't act like that. Who will love you for you, The things that make you Thai, and the things that make you American. Others might want to say that there's something wrong with one side of you. But the truth is your best of both, and no matter what to me, you're perfect."
Anne looked at her mom. Tears in her eyes. She put the necklace on the box and hugged her mother. Crying like all children do when they are truly sorry for what they said. Anne's mother hugged her back telling her it was all right. She spoke in that way that Anne never could understand
"P̄hm rạk khuṇ"
Anne Sniffed "What does that mean?"
"It means I love you. In Thai"
"I love you too," Anne said smiling.
…
Anne wondered how she could have forgotten that.
Her parents had told her about Thailand many times. They had told them about the people. The places, the languages. They had even taught her how to cook.
She then remembered the time they told her what her name really meant, Boonchuy Those that encourage or those who did good deeds. (Her father said that it was fine to do both though.)
She remembered her Aunts wedding in Thailand where her youngest cousin Anuman had almost fallen into a river, He was Busaba's only brother and she doted on him. Anne was the only one who was still watching during the time her uncle was making a speech. He wandered too close to the river. At first, she wondered why he was that close. Wasn't someone supposed to be watching him? And then she realized no one was watching him. Anne ran and caught him just before he fell into the river. In one moment of bravery, Anne had gone from an American oddity to a family hero. Relatives no longer looked at her like she was a freak, she remembered was Busaba coming to her room hugging her and apologizing for everything she had said begging for forgiveness. And Anne hugged her telling her it was alright.
She remembered the time she had stopped Jessica Pym's plan to destroy Sasha, Even though Anne was covered with paint Pym had still threatened to destroy Anne's social life. But Sasha remembered who her true friend was and stood up for her, Sasha told her that she was an idiot to believe those lies and would do better.
She remembered the time Marcy was being bullied by a boy who wanted to date. Her Anne had refused and pushed him away. She wasn't Sasha, but she wasn't going to let someone hurt her friend. She had ended up in detention when the boy cried to the teachers. Marcy had stood up for her and prevented her from going to detention, Marcy said she'd do anything for a friend.
This world was terrifying, she had been stuck there for a week. Being attacked by monsters, she was staving, had no idea where her friends were, and was almost willing to just give up. Her only contact with anything close to civilization was a frog-looking guy, and he called her a monster. later A little pink frog thing followed her. She trapped it and in turn, It had called her a monster. Then she heard the roar, She ran but saw the frog was still trapped. it was doom, she should just leave him there, she then remembered her parents, and thought how they must be terrified over what happened to their daughter. This frog boy may have his own parents who were wondering where he was. She turned back and rescued him. That had turned out to be one of the best decisions of her life.
The Chemicals from Hop Pops' stupid tea were making her hallucinate, She disliked him but right now they were both in danger from this monster. The two worked together to fight him off. In the following days, she noticed that the look of distrust he had for her had vanished. He had actually given her a set of keys to the farm. She didn't know why, but she hugged him after that.
Anne saw how sad Polly was at the contest. She had driven the poor Polliwog to this. She knew she had to make it right.
Stumpy may have been a jerk but to be honest that Critic annoyed her even more. She knew she needed to do something. She remembered all the food she had made at home with her parents and decided that maybe a little Thai fusion would be perfect
Anne remembered all of these and realized. She had forgotten who she was. The reason she had people who loved her was because of her actions. It wasn't because she was Thai, American, Human, or Frog, It was because she chose to be brave, chose to be kind when others needed her. She would never forget that again.
…
"HEY ANNE."
Anne snapped out of her memories.
"Oh, Sorry Polly. I froze up there for a minute."
"More like twenty minutes."
"What, Really?" Said Anne worried.
"Well no, I have no idea how long it was, but still, it was a long time."
"Oh, sorry about that, and sorry for telling everyone about your bucket mistakes, Your right to be angry"
Polly looked at Anne then shrugged "Eh No problem. Molly Boonchuy always forgives her friends."
"Well that's a relief," said Anny mock wiping her brow, "We Boonchuys have to stick together."
"Sure After all that's what... Wait Boonchuy?" said Polly her eyes widening.
"Yeah, Anne Boonchuy's back baby.."
The Polliwog looked at Anne, smiled then hugged her "FINALLY, I always liked your last name."
"Me too, Polly, Me too," She said hugging the Polliwog, "Any way we need to go, you want to run away, don't you?"
…
They walked for another thirty minutes before they reached the outskirts of the woods.
"So Polly. This is it."
"Yeah, So let's go," Said the Polliwog determined
Anne put her down "Nah I think I'm going to stay here."
"What?" Said Polly shocked "I thought we'd stay together. Two Boonchuys on the road."
"Nah. I'm saying here. I'm not going back to living in those woods again. it was awful."
Polly stared at her and then turned around in fierce determination "Fine I can make it on my own."
"Yeah, you probably can."
Polly Jumped once towards the forest.
"Hey, you know what I missed when I got teleported here."
Polly stopped and turned around.
"My bed. Man, that thing was comfortable. I mean a bit lumpy but still pretty nice considering I was sleeping on dirt for a while."
"Well, I'll find a new bed then, besides I like dirt." Polly continued hopping into the woods.
"Oh and then there was the food. No candy or anything."
Polly stopped again "I mean there's probably food out there somewhere right?" she was starting to get a little worried this idea might have not been so good after all.
"Yeah probably," said Anne looking at her nails.
Polly continued to jump a little slower this time.
"Oh and then there was that thing I really missed."
Polly stopped and turned to Anne. Her youthful confidence was almost broken.
"Home, Everynight I wanted to see my mom and dad again. Still do."
Polly smiled "Ha, I don't have parents, Checkmate Anne"
Anne shrugged "Yeah Good point. I guess Sprig and Hop Pop will have to cope without you."
Polly Smile faltered again "Who needs em." She said her voice wavering not so sure that was the truth.
"Really, You think their cope well without the bravest Plantar?"
The pink ball turned back into the forest Anne could hear the fear in her voice. "... Hop Pop will be angry, won't he?."
"Polly look at me"
Polly turned yet again to see Anne kneeling with a friendly smile on her face.
"One thing I've learned here is that the best pe... Frogs are the ones who get angry because they love you. Trust me. Hop Pop will be glad to have you home."
Polly smiled, Hop Pop and Sprig clearly needed her. She probably could change the Plantar's reputation in a day, And Hop Pop and Sprig were all right, idiots but they still loved her and besides Anne was still cool. She turned around and started to hop back to Anne.
Anne was about to pick her up. Impressed by the fact that she had talked the small Polliwog back home When a figure stepped out from behind a tree in front of Polly. The figure wore robes, As Polly stopped in front of it the robed thing. It put its foot on Polly's head preventing her from moving. While keeping, its foot on Polly, the robed figure turned to face Anne.
"Well wasn't that touching," said Professor Scumdrop, "It's almost as if the beast can communicate with a Polliwog, It must but on the same intellectual level."
"Scumdrop let her go." Demanded Anne.
"I AM TALKING NOW" shouted the newt, Anne kept quiet "Now, Ms. Beast, We are going to discuss your future scientific role."
"Or What?" Said Anne.
"Or." Scumdrop said with a smile on his face as he proceeded to put pressure on Polly's body with his foot "We answer that old question, How much downward force can a Polliwog take."
